The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game/Tactics/Far Harad

Far Harad

Why Play Far Harad?

If your favourite movie is Zulu then you may very well like this army, like the serpent horde you get giant elephants but you also get a whole lot of other stuff, for one you get shields and access to the blowpipe, the ranged weapon that doesn't take up any bow limit.

Pros

• Mumaks
• Poisoned arrows
• Blowpipes

Cons

• Mediocre defence for most units

Army Bonus

When your units are within 6 of a Mahud Hero who is enagged in combat your units automtically pass all courage tests.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• The Mumak War Leader:

• War Mumak of Harad: Everyone’s favourite semi-feral herbivore, the Mumak will kill literally everything that it comes across, but at 275 points before upgrades, it really is something to be saved for larger games. A canny opponent will also use magic and wounds to force a stampede so be wary of keeping it too close to your own troops. That being said, it will kill everything, anywhere and at any time, and also can transport 12 Haradrim (available separately)

• Mahud King: One of the few times when a King/chieftain argument comes down on the side of the royalty. The +1 fight makes a big difference between 4/5 is a big one and the extra point of will is handy for those pesky courage tests and magic resistance. S5 is always wonderful

• Mahud Tribesmaster: The ‘captain’ of the Mahud. He’s okay and if you cant afford a king then choose him. But go for the king if you can, he’s just better.

Troops

• Mahud Warrior – Cheap strength 4 is good, and a blowpipe does not add towards the number of bows in the force, so these guys are very handy. Lowest courage in the army is, however, a big problem so keep these guys around a hero or they will run the moment that your army is broken.

• Half Troll of far Harad – 23 points a piece is a big investment, but for that you get a stat line that beats those of most captains and terror. An extra point buys you a two handed weapon If you want it, but its not necessary. These guys will kill anything they get into base contact with, but as with the rest of the Mahud, the courage is the big let down on the profile.

Cavalry

• Mahud Raider – what’s better than a S4 warrior? A s4 warrior riding a bad tempered dromedary, that’s what. Does the job that the Haradrim Raiders don’t and stack up against the best cavalry of the evil side. Impact hits cause casualties from the moment of the charge and the fun is unlikely to stop there. Once again though, beware the low courage.

Allies

If you want a tad more variety in your life, the other evil forces of Lord of the Rings will allow you to add a few more bits and pieces in to your force

• Mordor– Can replace your cavalry with Morgul Knights and produce an even more effective hammer/anvil combination. Morannon orcs also make for a superb front line to a phalanx, supported by your Easterlings behind. Very good synergies between these two forces makes them natural allies.

• The Eastern Kingdoms– Easterlings can go toe to toe with the Warriors of Minas Tirith and their more esoteric troops (war priests, dragon knights, kataphracts) are highly effective linebreakers. Their true strength lies in the fact that Easterling spears count as pikes and can be used to add an extra attack to troops already being supported by spears. The mercenary warriors of Khand are a decent choice, but not brilliant. The only thing they do that Harad doesn’t is use chariots. Stick with Easterlings

• Moria– They’re ‘meh’ at best, but can pull all sorts of sneaky tricks and can allow you to field close to overwhelming numbers in a very few points. Carefully and sneakily used, they can be highly effective

• Angmar– A couple of named characters of use here, notably Bhuradur, but nothing to write home about. Give these guys a miss.

• Isengard– The only thing that Isengard has that Harad doesn’t already is crossbow uruk-hai (which are worse for you than Arbalesters) Uruk Shamans (nice), pikes (easterlings are cheaper and can use a shield at the same time)and Isengard trolls with shields (situational but alright really). Usable but there are better choices out there.